The Last Evolution

Chapter 8 — Secret of the Crater and Two Hours in Another World: Cross-Dimensional Shopping

The warm pulse of the blue meteor stone in his pocket grew stronger. Max pulled his sleeve down at once to cover the bluish veins that now stood out more clearly against his skin.

"Why are you standing there holding your pocket?" Mia asked in a shaky voice near the hood of the truck. "Is the cut on your arm bad? Want me to grab a bandage?"

"Just a surface scrape," Max replied flatly as he kicked the iron drum onto the sidewalk. "Get in before all this noise draws more zombies."

As soon as Mia climbed aboard, Max hit the gas and drove the pickup toward the red mark on Raven's map.

Ten minutes later, deep cracks spiderwebbed across the pavement. Beyond a torn chain-link fence stood a partially collapsed research facility on the rim of a massive crater.

"So this is the Impact Zone..." Mia whispered, her face pale as she stared at the blackened crater in the distance. "This place feels way creepier than the supermarket. Are you sure you want to go in there?"

"Because half the building collapsed, there won't be many zombies wandering around inside," Max said as he killed the engine behind a gate pillar. "Grab your bag and follow me."

They slipped through a side door of the laboratory. The first-floor corridor was a wreck of overturned gurneys and dried black bloodstains.

"Strange, there aren't any undead in this hall," Mia murmured, hugging her bag close behind Max. "Did that woman in the leather jacket already clear this place out?"

"Not her. The boot prints in the dust on this floor are days old," Max analyzed sharply, pointing toward the basement stairs. "The military already evacuated the upper floor. The main lab is downstairs."

Max led the way down the stairs with an emergency flashlight. Underground, the reinforced steel walls remained intact.

When they entered the chief researcher's office, Max's gaze swept across the desk and an open steel cabinet.

"Look, there are gold watches, jewelry, and stacks of cash left right in the drawer," Mia said in surprise. "When the researchers panicked and ran, they clearly didn't care about money anymore."

"Good for me," Max replied calmly as he swept all the jewelry and paper bills into his pack. "Things that are useless to dead men still have value to me."

In the middle of a virus nest, he's still cleaning out paper money and watches like a collector! Mia thought in disbelief.

Max's attention then landed on a classified file folder beside a smashed microscope. He flipped it open.

"What's in those papers, Max?" Mia asked from near the door. "Any clues about a cure for the virus?"

"Not a cure, just the initial notes on what caused the outbreak," Max answered flatly, hiding his surprise behind a cold expression.

Inside the research file, two classified terms stood out in bold print: Apex Evolution and Chrono Meteor.

So my guess was right, Max thought as he studied the sketch of the blue stone on the page. Radiation from this blue meteorite triggered the zombie virus, while also awakening an extreme biological adaptation called Apex Evolution in my body.

The second page noted that fragments of the Chrono Meteor held spacetime energy that reacted only to the blood of an evolved subject.

As Max tucked the document away, the blue stone in his pocket throbbed with heat. Its energy had recharged.

"Mia, head up to the top of the stairs and watch the upper corridor," Max ordered, pointing toward a steel storage vault in the corner of the office. "I'm going to pry open this steel storage room by myself."

"Huh? You want me to stand guard alone on those dark stairs?!" Mia protested with wide eyes. "Besides, that thick steel door is locked tight—what could you possibly be looking for in there?"

"That's my business. Your job is to watch the stairs and knock on this door if trouble shows up," Max said coldly. "Don't come down until I call you, unless you want to get left behind in the crater outside."

Mia gulped at his sharp glare and nodded. "A-all right! I'll keep watch upstairs. Don't take too long!"

Once Mia climbed the stairs, Max locked himself inside the steel storage vault, pulled out the Chrono Meteor, and pricked the tip of his finger with his knife.

This time I've got cash and gold for capital. I also need to time the exact duration of my trip.

A drop of blood fell onto the blue stone. The next second, a spatial pull yanked Max's body sideways and blacked out his vision.

When his boots hit pavement again, the stale air of the underground vault had been replaced by the fresh breeze of a peaceful, intact modern city. Max appeared in a narrow shopping alley and checked his wristwatch right away.

"Ten past two in the afternoon," Max murmured as he straightened his jacket and stepped out onto the sidewalk. "The clock starts now."

His first stop was a gold pawnshop across the street. Without wasting a word, Max laid dozens of gold rings, diamond necklaces, and luxury watches on the glass counter.

"I need cash right now," Max said, cutting straight to the point. "Take thirty percent off the market value, as long as you pay me in cash within five minutes with no questions asked."

The pawnshop owner nearly dropped his magnifying loupe at the pile of genuine jewelry in front of him.

"T-thirty percent below market price?!" the owner stammered. "Young master, every piece here is real! Are you sure you're willing to take a loss that big just for quick cash?"

"My time is worth far more than the discount," Max cut in coldly, tapping a finger on the counter. "Count it and hand over the money."

What kind of crazy rich guy is this cold-faced man?! the shop owner thought, breaking into a cold sweat as he hurried to empty his safe before the customer changed his mind.

With his pockets full of cash from the pawnshop, the supermarket, and the lab, Max moved fast, splitting his purchases across several different stores so he wouldn't draw suspicion.

At an outdoor gear shop, he bought two largest-capacity mountaineering backpacks, a military steel commando knife, lighters, tactical flashlights, and survival gear.

"Which mountain are you climbing that you need a commando knife and packs this huge, sir?" the cashier asked pleasantly.

"A wilderness crawling with wild beasts," Max replied flatly, handing over the exact cash before walking out and leaving the cashier with a chill.

From there, Max hit two pharmacies and three separate convenience stores. He bought up dozens of boxes of medicine, bandages, clean water, long-lasting canned meat, energy biscuits, and sweet chocolate bars.

Passing a clothing store near the starting alley, he paused for a moment. He picked up several sets of durable men's clothes, then grabbed two sets of warm women's clothes along with cleansing soap.

If that woman keeps wearing a torn blouse and freezes to death, I'll be stuck doing all the driving myself, he reasoned inwardly.

With two full mountaineering packs strapped to his back and chest, Max ducked back behind the stack of crates in the narrow alley.

He kept his eyes fixed on the hands of his watch. Right as the time hit ten past four, the Chrono Meteor in his pocket pulsed with heat and flared with bright blue light.

"Exactly one hundred and twenty minutes," Max whispered, gripping all his supplies tight. "So the stable time limit for my trips right now is a full two hours."

Blue light enveloped his body and yanked him back across space.

The next second, Max's boots hit the floor of the steel storage vault in the lab's basement.

Right as the blue glow faded, however, hurried footsteps echoed from outside—and someone violently twisted the handle of his hiding place from the other side!